At 02:55 PM 7/20/01 +1200 K.Feete wrote:
>This is what I think about when you say "cost-benefit analysis". I think
>what you *mean* is a rational method of balancing the pluses (as defined
>by the goal) of a particular action against the minuses, which I can in
>fact agree with.
BINGO! A true cost-benefit analysis must consider *all* costs and *all*
benefits, even if we don't usually assign "monetary" values to such things.
If you don't, the analysis you are doing can hardly be called
"cost-benefit" - which is why, really, I can't understand why this is even
an issue.
One of the underlying principles of economics is that *everything* has
*value.* The unit of value is called the "util." By adding up the
costs and benefits in "utils", you can arrive at the appropriate decision
for any given circumstance. Economics, in large part, is an anlysis of
how best to conduct this anlysis.
For convenience, however, "utils" are hard to measure, so we use a
substitute measure of value, the US Dollar. Currencies were invented as a
simple way of allowing people to easily exchange things of value.
>However, what you tend to *give* me is a straight $$
>value of this vs. that,
When have I done that? For example, did you see the analysis given to
Jeroen, where I "valued" universal govt. protection for the Right to Life?
>So, to return to the original subject: I am perfectly willing to admit
>that all environmental proposals should be subject to cost-benefit
>analysis,
Yay!
>if *you* are willing to admit that cost-benefit analysis is
>merely a fairly insignificant step in a far larger process of determining
>the "value" of an action or proposal to a person- a business- or a
>country.
Booo Hisssss!
Sorry, but how can you determine the "value" of a decision *without*
cost-benefit analysis?
JDG
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John D. Giorgis - [EMAIL PROTECTED] - ICQ #3527685
We are products of the same history, reaching from Jerusalem and
Athens to Warsaw and Washington. We share more than an alliance.
We share a civilization. - George W. Bush, Warsaw, 06/15/01
